Teva's CEO Shows He Means Business With Planned 25% Job Cuts

Schultz aims to cut costs by $3 billion by end of 2019
Shares surge most on record as plan surpasses expectations

Boxes of tablets, produced by Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., sit on a pharmacy counter in this arranged photograph in London, U.K., on Thursday, Dec. 29, 2016. The rapid pace of innovation among drugmakers may continue to be overshadowed by broader investment themes, such as the switch away from defensive stocks into more cyclical industries, during 2017, according to Bloomberg Intelligence.Photographer: Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg

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By Yaacov Benmeleh and Naomi Kresge

December 14, 2017 at 12:13 PM UTC

Updated on

December 14, 2017 at 3:59 PM UTC

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Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd.’s new Chief Executive Officer Kare Schultz proved that when it comes to saving the struggling drugmaker, he’s ready to pull out all the stops.

Just six weeks into the job, he announced plans to slash 25 percent of the Israeli company’s 56,000-strong workforce, suspend dividends and forgo employee bonuses. The plans, which envision cutting costs by $3 billion in two years, surpassed even the most aggressive forecasts from analysts and sent shares surging the most on record in Tel Aviv.